If you’re looking to make the most of the long summer days and spend hours on the trails, finding the right pair of shoes can make a massive difference to your riding experience. Picking the wrong ones can cause all sorts of issues, from foot pain through to a lack of control on the bike. Make the right choice, and you’ll be able to ride all day without any discomfort or other problems.
The shoes we’ve tested over the coming pages are all relatively lightweight options designed for trail and cross-country riding. That means they need to balance sufficient sole stiffness for efficient power transfer with just the right amount of flex in all the correct places to ensure you can still walk about in them, rather than be left skating around like Bambi on ice.
They also need to be comfortable for extended periods of time, offer enough cleat adjustment to get your feet in just the right position on your pedals, to maximise control on technical terrain, and feel secure enough that when you want to put down some Watts, your feet don’t shift about. Then, of course, there’s venting, tread design, construction materials and closure systems to consider. All of these factors play
